


heaven smells like freshly ground coffee

by hawkewyrd



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Self-Indulgent, coffee shop except not an au, well kind of I guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 14:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30057096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkewyrd/pseuds/hawkewyrd
Summary: Just a really self-indulgent piece about Jaehee and Saeran running a cafe together; Jaehee makes the coffee, Saeran bakes the goods. Set after Ray's route in Another Story, but there are no spoilers, so this can be read any way you'd like.
Relationships: Saeran/Main Character (implied)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	heaven smells like freshly ground coffee

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't intend for this to end up sounding like the beginnings of a polyamorous relationship but I am, at heart, a simple lesbian simping for a strong, sweet lady and a cottagecore emo boy and ? I can't contain myself, alright. The draft was literally titled "simping for a barista and a baker." The heart wants what it wants.
> 
> Thank you to the Mystic Messenger Reverse Big Bang discord server for encouraging this self-indulgent nonsense - I haven't written for this fandom before, so it seems only right that I start out with these two.

In the dim light of early morning, Saeran’s focus was narrowed to a single point, hands steady as he carefully finished the final swirl of chocolate frosting. Despite years of being a night owl, the early mornings had very quickly become his favourite time of day. Unlike the still, oppressive silence of the night, the gentle quiet of the early morning rang with an unspoken promise, giving way to the birdsong which arrived with the first light of dawn. There was a certain hopefulness in listening to the world slowly rise into wakefulness, an anticipation of the day ahead which made even the feeble light in the cafe bright and cheerful.

The telltale jingle of keys signalled Jaehee’s arrival, footsteps echoing through the doorway as Saeran placed down the bag of frosting. He looked up just in time to see her turn the corner, expression dull with the last traces of sleep. They exchanged a nod as Jaehee made a beeline for the bags of coffee beans, beginning her morning routine of preparing the coffee machine.

The rattle, clink and grumble of the machine presented a welcome addition to the sounds of the morning, accompanying Saeran as he removed the last batch of cookies from the oven. He could smell the rich, toasty scent rise into the air as Jaehee finished making her cup of coffee, and carried the tray over to the cabinet, placing it inside just as she finished their drinks.

By now, their routine was well-established, and Saeran had perfected the art of finishing up his morning baking just in time for them to share a moment of quiet before the cafe opened. Jaehee’s simple flat-white sat in sharp contrast to the mountain of whipped cream and chocolate shavings which awaited Saeran, with just enough coffee to make a caffeine purist shrivel in disgust. He swiped a finger through the cream before picking up the cup, sucking the chocolate syrup from his thumb.

“I hope that folder on the kitchen counter isn’t from Saeyoung. I left C&R so I wouldn’t have to look at any more cat proposals.” Jaehee took a sip of her coffee, her dull expression clearing as she took a moment to savour the taste. “The cleaning alone… I don’t understand how it could be hygienic.”

Saeran hummed, smiling faintly at Jaehee’s exasperated sigh.

“C-hair and frosting would hardly be a good mix, let alone the running costs…” She paused. “Unless we tell Saeyoung to give the proposal to Jumin instead.”

After a long pause, they made eye contact across the table, and Saeran watched the faint expression of horror dawn on Jaehee’s face.

“Actually, no.”

“They might set one up across the road.”

“They’d probably try to get Zen to model, and his face would swell-”

“We’d hear about it for weeks.”

Outside, the streetlights flicked off, the gentle glow of sunrise gleaming between the buildings. The cafe fell back into a comfortable, unpressured silence, the sort of which Saeran had come to appreciate from Jaehee. Where the rest of the RFA was prone to energetic outbursts, Jaehee provided a quiet, calm counterpoint, often the sole voice of reason left to settle people down when things got out of hand. Even when talking about her passions - coffee, or Zen - her excitement was the quiet sort, the kind which shone from her eyes as she spoke, a warmth filling her ordinarily restrained tone of voice; though even that was falling away as she grew used to her life outside of C&R.

When he’d first begun spending time with the RFA, Saeran had still been growing used to the trials and tribulations of an ‘ordinary’ life, balanced by the presence of his partner. At her first RFA party, she’d spent the entire night on her feet, rushing around the room as she greeted guests and made sure everything ran smoothly, which left Saeran to the company of his brother and the other RFA members.

It was fine, at first, but once Zen and Jumin got into an argument about cats, and with Saeyoung in some kind of discussion with Yoosung about chocolate milk, Saeran was left to his own devices. The longer he stood there, the louder the room became. He could suddenly hear the voices of everyone in the room at once, Saeyoung’s vibrant laughs overlapping with Zen’s enraged grumblings overlapping with some lady shouting about sunglasses. Everything started to tunnel, until he’d almost begun to feel like he was vibrating out of his skin- and then, suddenly, there had been someone standing next to him.

Jaehee had approached him from the front, but it had still taken Saeran almost too long to notice her standing beside him. Her expression was completely open, exhaustion and exasperation easily read in the crinkles at the corner of her eyes as she sighed, looking in his direction. Ten minutes later, he’d found himself sitting on the steps outside, a chocolate cupcake in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

At the time, Jaehee told him that she’d needed a break, and that she’d wanted to talk to him for a while - they were both members of the RFA now, after all, and would be seeing a lot of each other, never mind that he was Seven’s mysterious long-lost twin brother - but Saeran had always suspected that she’d done it for his benefit as much as hers. It was one of the reasons it had been so easy to spend time with her from the beginning. Jaehee was perceptive, considerate, and calm; considerably less overwhelming than the rest of the RFA had been, back then.

“Should I be expecting MC to drop by later?”

Saeran huffed, aiming a squint in the direction of Jaehee’s teasing smile.

“Why?”

“I have a new dvd to share with her. I managed to track down a copy of one of Zen’s old shows… and I noticed that there are four kinds of chocolate in the cabinet.”

He laughed quietly, ignoring the feeling of warmth blooming across his cheeks.

“You have the pumpkin spice syrup sitting on the counter.”

“I was revising what syrups we need to order.” Jaehee paused at the sound of her phone vibrating against the table, glancing out the window in order to avoid Saeran’s amused smile. In answer, he merely took a slow sip of his drink, pulling out his own phone to look at the chatrooms.

“...They’re talking about the cat cafe again.”

Jaehee sighed heavily, slowly slumping forward to rest her forehead against the surface of the table. Her muffled mumbling was barely audible, but what little he caught mentioned the word coffee.


End file.
